


Angel With a Shotgun

by sparkly_butthole



Series: Mshenko tumblr prompts [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Challenge fic, Developing Relationship, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Shepard's shotgun too, Silly Tali, Tali's shotgun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 08:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11779707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkly_butthole/pseuds/sparkly_butthole
Summary: Tali is the most adorable thing Shepard has ever seen in his life. Each time he runs into her in the hallways of the Normandy, or on the Citadel during shore leave, she adds another exhibit to his catalogue of proof. True to form, not five minutes into today’s conversation she gives him Exhibit A for the day.





	Angel With a Shotgun

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the August challenge #4: something you don’t ship. My husband is a mshep/ Tali shipper and I agree that she’s rather adorable, so I wrote this for him.
> 
> Thanks to ellebeedarling for the beta! You're wonderful, my dear!

Tali is the most adorable thing Shepard has ever seen in his life. Each time he runs into her in the hallways of the Normandy, or on the Citadel during shore leave, she adds another exhibit to his catalogue of proof. True to form, not five minutes into today’s conversation she gives him Exhibit A for the day.

“You mean, you really have feelings for me?”

“‘s what I said, isn’t it?” Shepard’s tone is teasing. He likes Tali off guard like this.

“I… keelah! I didn’t actually… I mean, I hoped, but… keelah!” she says again, reeling, gripping the rails in engineering like a lifeline. Shepard decides to give her a break. He steps forward and pulls her into his arms. “In front of the crew?”

He can’t see her face, of course, but the horror is clear in her modulated voice. It’s unexpected, but this kind of behavior is frowned upon in the quarian fleet, after all, as well as the Alliance. Of course, that means jack and shit to him. He’d tip her down and kiss her right here in engineering, in front of Ken and Gabby, if he could.

He tells her as much.

“Uhh… you know, this reminds me of a story about my parents? How they once stole off to the underdeck of engineering, right after they first got together…”

Tali’s officially even more adorable now. Truth be told, he’d be torn if she wasn’t wearing her suit. Would he put her out of her misery with a kiss? Shut up that pretty mouth and scatter her thoughts into the wind like so much detritus? Or would he let her keep proving why he finds her so irresistible?

It’s not just the crazy quarian hips she sports in that skin-tight suit, the ones he dreams of every damn night.

It’s not just her remarkable inner strength or her incredible brain, the way she holds her own with the best on the front lines against the Reapers, though those certainly help, too.

No, it’s this. How tongue-tied she gets over him- all because she adores him, too. It’s like they were meant to be. 

At any rate, since he can’t put her out of her misery, he figures he’ll have a little fun with it.

“Do you really wanna tell me about your parents sneaking off when I’m trying to flirt with you, Tali?”

“Oh… oh, no, Shepard, no… I mean, my parents aren’t unattractive, I guess? But! But they’re my parents… I… uh, keelah!”

“Well, other than your parents, what would you like to talk about, hmm?” he asks her softly as he pulls her in closer. Daniels has turned away politely, but Donnelly is not-so-subtly eyeing the exchange with interest. “How much you’d like to kiss me? I hope so, because I’d give just about anything to kiss you right now…” 

“Shepard, I… your mouth, it’s full of germs…”

A chuckle escapes him- he can’t help it. “I’m aware of that, yes.”

“Well, if we kiss, I’d have to take medications, and spend time in isolation to ensure I was fit for duty…”

“Tali, relax.”

As if it was a command, she stills. Oh, how he wishes he could see her face right now!

“It’s just that I’ve never done anything like this before, not even with another quarian, and-”

“Yeah, I kind of figured as much. Do you wanna go get a bite? We’re docked for another four hours yet. I’m sure there’s places still open with both types of food on the menu.”

“Yes.” The relief in her voice is palpable, though he’s unsure why she would find that more comfortable than this. Maybe it’s because Donnelly’s eyeing them openly by now.

“As you were, Ken.”

The man salutes hastily and gets back to work, scuffing his toes against the deck in embarrassment. 

Tali whispers in his ear on the elevator. “Then maybe I can show you my shotgun later.”

Shepard’s eyebrows raise. Spirits, she’s so damn  _ cute _ ! “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”

“Only if you’ve got a shotgun to show me, Shepard. I’ll admit I’m curious...”

Raising his eyes to the heavens, he says a prayer that this is only the first date in a long time.


End file.
